Slow land acquisition halts Baddi Railway link project

Baddi: The Baddi rail link project is hanging fire due to the delay in land acquisition by the Haryana Government. A delegation led by the chairman of the Himachal chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Sanjay Khurana had met Dinesh Kumar, Divisional Railways Manager, Ambala.

Khurana said the project was delayed as the land acquisition process in Haryana was slow, whereas in Himachal Pradesh the rate at which the land was to be acquired awaited the Deputy Commissioner’s approval.

He said the DRM, Ambala, had assured support to the project and advised the CII members to meet Akshay Sood, Adviser – Planning, entrusted with the responsibility to coordinate with the Railways on behalf of the state government. The CII delegation was also asked to meet Ravi Gupta, Deputy Chief Engineer – Construction, Northern Railway, for further information on the project.

Khurana said they would soon meet the officials concerned and request them to expedite work on the project.He said the state government would bear 50 per cent of the cost of land acquisition for the project. A sum of Rs 45 crore had already been released by the state government to the Railway Board.

The delegation raised the issue of connecting Kala Amb or Paonta Sahib with the proposed Eastern Freight Corridor. The DRM said Kala Amb was not a part of the plan while Naraiangarh would be connected to the corridor via Jagadhri – Chandigarh feeder line.

The DRM suggested the CII members to send a request to the Railways through the state government for opening a railway reservation counter at Baddi.